


The End of Shift

by Hardrada



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardrada/pseuds/Hardrada
Summary: Nothing to speak of.  Bones has been thinking and Jim has some reassuring to do
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	The End of Shift

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second time I have mentioned both Jim falling over Kevin, and he and Bones ending up living on a farm when Starfleet is done with them. I will definitely write about both things at some point. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your kind words and kudos - I appreciate them so much.

_The End of Shift_

_I really don’t know what “I love you” means. I think it means “Don’t leave me here alone”.  
Neil Gaiman_

Sometimes Jim would catch Bones just staring, apparently at nothing. In fact, for a man who hated the whole concept of space, he seemed to spend quite a bit of time gazing at the stars. He had done it for as long as Jim had known him, ever since they rode in the shuttle together, and to be fair on that first day Jim had put it down to attempting to avoid space sickness, as well as anybody’s gaze since he was older than any of the oh-so-spruce cadets in the shuttle with them, all giving them the evils because of the sheer state of the pair of them. Actually it was thanks to their appearance and the fact that Bones had been so deep down, damn angry at the world, that nobody else on that shuttle would have dreamed of trying to speak to either of them. The thought of it would have caused every single soul to quail at the thought. Jim of course hadn’t cared; Jim had felt the connection immediately, the pair had summed each other up in a single fierce glance and that had been it, except for the fine print. The two of them were connected. Jim had revelled in it all, and the rewards had of course been exponential. To the end of his life, Jim would consider that day as being the absolute best ever. True, he had had some pretty amazing days since then, but none of them would have meant a damn thing if Bones hadn’t been by his side.

So when he walked into their quarters and caught Bones once again gazing out at the stars, he shot him a sharp glance but didn’t speak; he simply let his hand trail across Bones’ shoulders and made his way to the bedroom to quickly strip out of his uniform and into more comfortable sweats, grateful that a long shift was over.

The _Enterprise_ was on a short-hop mission, humdrum to say the least as they filled in for the _Hydra_ which in turn was filling in for the _Nyx_ which had been delayed; it was a long train-wreck of administrative fuck-ups, leaving a ship and crew of the calibre of _Enterprise_ fucking about doing milk runs, as Scotty had so eloquently put it. Privately Jim considered that they were so close to Earth, that the supplies they were carrying could have been thrown there by a good javelin thrower. But who was he? At least after this, they were due a few weeks leave and then back out into deep space for another six months. But in the meantime, they just had to handle the tedium. They’d be back on Earth day after tomorrow and there was a bar stool with his name on it just waiting for him. 

One of the pitfalls of such a humdrum mission was the fact that Jim was pestered with one niggle after another as crew members, bored at the lack of activity, began to complain about the most trivial of things.

“I always promised that I wouldn’t be one of _those_ captains”, he said, coming out of the bedroom and moving over to where Bones still sat. Bones made an interrogative noise, putting an arm around Jim’s hips and pulling him in for an awkward hug. “One of those captains who keeps themselves apart from the crew”, Jim clarified. “We’ve been through so much shit together that it seems wrong to be distant”.

“You know the name of just about every being on this ship”, Bones said, his voice low and tired.

“Apart from Bev-not-Liz”, Jim said. “That woman’s name just will not stick”.

“The point is that you’re not one of _those_ captains”. said Bones. “So what brought this on?”

“Just that I really can’t stand hearing about one more person’s niggly grouch”.

“That sounds like a medieval health issue”. Bones rested his head against Jim’s hip. “Come to me with your Niggly Grouch. Treatable with leeches”.

Jim put his hand on Bones’ neck and squeezed softly. “Tired?” Bones nodded, not speaking. “Bed?” 

“Soon”. His thumb moved against Jim’s hip, rubbing almost unconsciously. “Anyway, don’t you have people, or have they all got the Niggly Grouch as well?”

“I don’t actually think I do have people as such”, Jim replied thoughtfully. “Or if I do, they’re hiding behind other people. The thing is if I’m walking down the corridor and not actually looking at a PADD or talking to someone, I can’t hide if a crew member wants to come and speak to me. I can’t spend all my time looking into the middle distance in a concerned and captainly way. That’s what I was doing when I fell over Kevin”.

“And that’ll never stop being funny”.

“Not so much for me and Kevin”, Jim protested mildly.

“You really are so soft sometimes. I’ve seen you rip a crew member a new one, and in the next second you’re in a corner comforting someone over their broken heart. You would hate not speaking to them. If your crew stopped speaking to you, you would go around asking each one in turn what you had done wrong”. Bones smiled. “Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean. It’s why the crew love you. You don’t know how to say no”.

Jim nudged Bones. “You’ve never complained about that before”.

“The only time you say no to me is when I ask you to come for your physical”, Bones remarked. “You seem to be pretty happy about everything else”.

“You know me, my friend. Never knowingly turned down anything that might be worth doing twice. At least twice”.

“Sometimes twice in one night”, Bones remarked, and Jim laughed, which was something Bones had long considered to be one of the best sounds ever known. One of the main reasons for Bones’ existence was to make sure Jim laughed like that at least once a day.

“Anyway what are you looking at?” Jim asked. “For someone who really hates the stars, you spend a lot of time looking at them”. He pulled away from Bones, who held up a hand.

“No,” he said. “Don’t even think about sitting on my lap. You’re too heavy…”

“Excuse me? Are you saying I’m fat?”

Bones rolled his eyes. “Oh if you must”. He smiled as Jim grinned and planted himself deliberately on Bones’ lap, kissing him soundly to still any mock complaint. Bones who actually had nothing to complain about anyway simply wrapped his arm around Jim’s waist and leaned back into his seat, carrying Jim with him, who in turn happily draped himself, achieving one of those positions that always made Bones cringe at the thought of the potential damage to muscles. He deftly slid his free hand underneath Jim’s sweatshirt and rested it on the firm (not fat) stomach, reconnecting on the most basic level after a boring and therefore stressful day.

“So tell me what you’re looking at “, Jim said after a long moment of just sitting, his fingers tangling in Bones’ hair.

“Looking at infinity”, said Bones in such a thoroughly pretentious tone of voice that Jim raised his head and looked at him.

“You what?” he said finally. “What in the name of all that’s holy does that mean?”

“I was being wise”, said Bones, but couldn’t keep a straight face for more than a few seconds, before breaking into a massive grin. Jim rolled his eyes - a nasty habit he had picked up from Bones - and settled his head back on Bones’ shoulder, pausing on the way down to lick his cheek, making Bones snort.

“You actually do get worse”. Jim moved again, manoeuvring until he was straddling Bones, making him wince again, but for an entirely different reason. He rested his hands on Jim’s waist and simply stared, drinking him in. He would never get tired of this, he knew. Right from the start, from that first night after the shuttle ride and the dirtiest against-the-wall fuck of his life, Jim had made for an entirely attractive and enticing armful (or lapful), and even after a decade and more together, still Bones could not get enough. He doubted very much that he ever would.

“Stop staring”, Jim said. “You look like a fish”.

“You old charmer. Who said romance is dead?”

“Not me, my friend, not me”. Jim kissed him, first on the forehead and then on the cheek, soft butterfly kisses with no passion to them, but a lifetime’s worth of love. “Now, tell me what you were looking at, and don’t say you were star gazing, because you and I both know that I would laugh you out of this room if you claimed that”.

Bones shook his head and hauled Jim an absolutely impossible inch closer. He lifted one of Jim’s hands and placed it palm to palm with his own, nodding his satisfaction when Jim linked their fingers in an automatic reaction.

“So tell me”, Jim said again, his lips resting against Bones’ hairline. “You know I won’t stop. I have stamina”.

“On so many levels, my love. On so many levels”.

“So, will you just friggin’ tell me before I bite you? Or tell you what, tell me and then I’ll bite you anyway. You know how you like that”. He kissed Bones gently once again and then pulled back slightly. “Come on, man, tell me. There’s something in there, isn’t there?” He put his free hand on Bones’ chest. “Don’t hide from me”.

“Okay”. Bones took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ve been thinking. What are we going to do when all this is over?”

“What? When what’s over?”

“When Starfleet retire us”.

Jim sat back. “What?” He looked absolutely baffled. “Just - what?” Then a light went on. “Has the whole 40th thing turned you profound, or just a bit mad?” They had recently celebrated Bones’ 40th birthday with a weekend of good food, good company and mind-blowingly good birthday sex, so Jim was somewhat behind the beat on this one.

“I suppose it has”, Bones said, somewhat non-specifically. “Oh I know you’re going to say that I have another 15 years before I’m put to pasture, but - I can’t see you giving this up”.

“Well, we may be wiped out by a pissed off alien race long before then”, Jim said, not exactly helping the situation. “Although it’s more likely that I’ll eat something that makes me explode”.

“Don’t”. Bones squeezed Jim’s fingers. He hated contemplating Jim’s death ever since - well, ever since he had died. It had broken something in Bones that would never mend.

“Bones,what’s wrong?” Jim now looked properly concerned. “I’m starting to think there’s something you’re not telling me. We don’t hide shit from each other. What is it?”

“No, nothing, sorry”. Bones waved his hand. “We need to reset this whole conversation”.

“You started it, being all Deep and Meaningful”. Bones could hear the capitals.

“Whatever you say”, he replied with the familiarity of long usage. “All I meant was, when this is done for me, you’ll still have years ahead of you”. He shrugged, aware of how lame he sounded.

“Oh, I get it”. Jim pushed himself off Bones’ lap and knelt down, pushing Bones’ thighs apart, shuffling closer. “You think I’m going to run away into space and leave you at home - er, tending the farm”. He held up a hand. “We may have a farm, you don’t know”.

“Can’t see you with your hand up a cow’s backside any time soon”.

“Don’t know why. It’s been in weirder places”.

“You are so gross”.

“I know”. Jim settled more comfortably. “It feels weird having this conversation, but if it’ll help - I never thought of you as the insecure one, my Bones. You’ve always understood your place in the universe”. He suddenly gave the grin that lit up that universe and kissed Bones’ wrist. “In my universe, anyway”. He fluttered his eyelashes, making Bones roll his eyes, which had been his aim, even if what he had said had been the absolute truth.

“Okay,” he continued. “How about this? I do shorter runs, nothing deep space? I won’t want to be away from you for long stretches, and I know you - you think the worst when you’re not in contact with me”. He slid his hands beneath Bones’ sweatshirt. “This is a surreal conversation to be having. This is a 3 o’clock in the morning, can’t -sleep-because-I’m-worrying-about-my-dumb-mortality conversation”.

“Humour me”.

“And you’re honestly okay?”

“Honestly okay. Just feeling the age difference”.

“Okay”. Jim sat back and studied him, studied that oh-so familiar face. He knew that face better than he knew his own, and he loved it so much it sometimes scared him. This man had given him roots, given him a solid base on which to grow and develop. Without him, he would be sleeping in a gutter somewhere, still feral, still hating the world. “Grown up relationships are really complicated”. He said.

“You just worked that out?” Bones smiled, no more really than a softening of the eyes, the look he saved for Jim. “You would really give up deep space for these shitty short-hops? You’d put up with the niggles from crew members? You wouldn’t be the poster boy any more”.

“I haven’t been a poster boy for about a zillion years, it feels”, Jim said. “Which is absolutely fine by me. And of course I would. I know damn well if I said to you tomorrow that I needed you to give up medicine for some reason that I can’t imagine right now, you would. You would give it up for me. I will give this up for you. No questions”.

“But you wouldn’t ever ask me that, would you? It’s a totally different question”.

“Don’t spoil the moment”. Jim took Bones’ hands in his, all seriousness now. “Leonard Horatio McCoy, I love you with every atom of my being. I have loved you since forever”. He stopped and swallowed. “And I would give everything I have in this life and the next to make you understand that. So here’s my question. Bones, will you marry me? Will you marry me, and when we’re old and grey and yet still firm and ruggedly handsome, will you live with me on our farm and do manly and ruggedly handsome things together?”.

Bones looked at him for a long moment before speaking. “Yes”. It was simply said, but with so much sincerity and feeling behind it as if he had stood on his seat and whooped. “Oh my god, yes”.

He leaned forward, took Jim’s face between his hands and kissed him so thoroughly that Jim had to wriggle free as he began to black out from lack of oxygen.

“Idiot”, he finally said. “Space is beautiful and full of wonder, but I promise you that it doesn’t hold a candle to working on our mythical farm with you. I would rather have my hand up a cow’s backside than explore the nebula without you”. He paused. “Hyperbole, maybe?”

“Maybe”, Bones agreed, eyes shining.

“So stop star gazing and navel contemplating, and let’s enjoy the exploration”.

Bones snorted again, and Jim beamed at him. “Okay”, he conceded, “that’s not going to happen”. He raised their joined hands. “You are so weird”, he said. “You worry about shit that won’t happen for another decade, and you’re with _me._ If we get to next week without me spraining something I think we’re on course for a personal best”. He kissed Bones. “You know the safest place for me right now?”

“I would suggest that it’s bed”. 

“Correct answer, my friend”. Jim stood up. “Come on”. He held out his hand to pull Bones to his feet. “I like this. I walk in from a shift and within a half hour I’m in bed with you. Great way to diet. Since you think I’m fat”.

“What I think is that you have the single best ass in this or any other galaxy, and I also think that when I’ve given that and other parts a thorough seeing-to, then we’ll eat”.

“Oh”. Jim blinked. “Okay”. He grinned. “Now who’s being romantic?”

“That’s as good as it gets”.

“That’s what I said. Romantic”. He tangled their fingers and led the way towards the bedroom. “Come on, take me to bed and show me what you’ve got”.

And so he did. And stars were forgotten, and the future was forgotten, and even eating was forgotten.

And the next day Jim suffered a case of mild poisoning when one of the sealed canisters they were transporting began to leak and reacted with oxygen to form something that disagreed with his nervous system in ways that were extremely unsettling.

“So that’s the personal best still intact”, was the first thing he said when he had stopped twitching, and Bones scowled, not angry, just baffled.

“Can’t leave you, can I?” he said. “Can’t leave you on your own, not just in space, but anywhere”.

Jim smiled, a very pale imitation of his usual beaming grin, but real all the same. “Plan worked then”.

“Didn’t ever strike you just to ask me?”

“Like the drama”. Jim’s eyes closed and he drifted into sleep, leaving Bones staring at him.

“Just another day at the office”. He smiled, resigned, and leaned down, kissed Jim very gently on the cheek, and left him to sleep it off. He had other patients, and Jim would be okay. 

He glanced out at the stars. _Another ten years?_ He looked back to Jim, who had turned onto his side and assumed his normal sleeping position. _Fuck it. That’s no problem._

The End


End file.
